Building the AI tools CMOs actually need at the World Economic Forum.
Live from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Karin Timpone, founder and CEO of ClearPrompt, unpacks how to implement AI with focused, phased approaches rather than sweeping transformations and keeping the focus on business strategy.
What you’ll learn:
Karin Timpone is the founder and CEO of ClearPrompt, an AI-powered business strategy platform designed for marketing leaders. With extensive experience as chief marketing officer at MLB and Marriott, Karin brings deep expertise in technology adoption, digital transformation, and strategic marketing innovation.
Her work has helped leading brands like Disney and Marriott integrate emerging technologies into core business operations, making her insights and expertise essential for marketing executives seeking to position themselves as true business strategists.
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Josh previews the tough questions and unfiltered conversations featured on Frontier CMO, including:
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[8:00] Create AI Tools That Unite C-Suite Alignment Around Business Strategy — Karin’s innovation with ClearPrompt was building an AI platform that bridges the critical gap between human strategic thinking and technology acceleration by converting business strategy intake into instant, collaborative drafts the entire C-suite can understand. The unlock isn’t creating better marketing plans faster; it’s creating a shared strategic foundation where finance, operations, creative and marketing teams all interpret the four Ps, growth template, brand positioning, and message hierarchy identically. Rather than marketing departments using AI to produce outputs in isolation, this approach positions the CMO as the orchestrator of enterprise strategy, using AI to accelerate consensus-building across functional areas.
[11:10] Position AI as a Means to Better Execution, Not the Goal Itself — Karin reinforces that technology — whether AI, blockchain, or video — has always served as a tool to connect more authentically with customers, never as an end in itself. The mistake many leaders make is treating AI adoption as the objective when the actual objective is driving growth, deepening customer relationships, and improving brand reputation. This distinction matters because it shifts conversations from “Should we use AI?” to “What business problem are we solving, and does AI accelerate our solution?” Your foundation in communications, authenticity, and storytelling remains non-negotiable; AI simply amplifies these capabilities by processing data faster and personalizing narratives at scale.
[13:38] Tie Every AI Initiative Directly to Strategic Business Outcomes — Karin emphasizes that introducing AI systems without connecting them to explicit business strategy and measurable outcomes creates costly misalignment across creative, analytical and platform teams. The critical move for CMOs is to orchestrate simultaneous conversations across creative, analytics, and customer platform teams using an agile framework that asks: “In Phase One, what specific business outcome are we testing?” Every AI project must ladder up to growth, competitive differentiation, or customer lifetime value. This specificity transforms AI from a vague tech initiative into a concrete business lever that your entire C-suite understands and can rally around.
[16:17] Pick a Lane Instead of Boiling the Ocean with AI — Karin advises CMOs to avoid trying to master all AI applications simultaneously, since the technology is constantly evolving and expanding. Rather than becoming an expert in every AI facet, Karin recommends that CMOs identify one strategic priority that aligns with their existing initiatives, such as storytelling, data analysis, customer insights, or speed-to-market. By selecting a focused lane, you can build credibility and momentum with your team, making AI adoption feel natural rather than forced or intimidating. Bonus: you leave associated analysis paralysis behind, too.
